ATA Publishes Guidelines for Managing Thyroid Nodules and Cancer in Children

The American Thyroid Association released its first guidelines for evaluating and managing thyroid nodules and thyroid cancer in children. The guidelines, published in the peer-reviewed journal Thyroid, were created by a task force jointly lead by Andrew Bauer, MD, of the Pediatric Thyroid Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

The evidence-based article "Management Guidelines for Children with Thyroid Nodules and Differentiated Thyroid Cancer" discusses a range of topics, including:

• The use of ultrasound and fine-needle aspiration for cellular analysis to evaluate and manage benign thyroid nodules
• Recommendations for assessing, treating and monitoring children with differentiated thyroid cancer from pre-operative staging to surgical management
• The role of radioactive iodine therapy
• The goals of thyrotropin suppression

The new guidelines address important differences between adults and children with thyroid nodules or thyroid cancer. The recommendations include more therapeutic options for pediatric patients with the goal of limiting aggressive therapy when it is not likely to offer benefit.